ROME, Ga. – The Shorter University Lady Hawks used a 13-0 run to close out the first quarter at the Winthrop-King Centre and never looked back en route to a 61-54 victory over the Delta State Lady Statesmen to notch their first Gulf South Conference win. 

Inside the Matchup:

    Score:  Lady Statesmen 54 | Lady Hawks 61
    Records: DSU (3-4, 0-2 GSC) | Shorter (2-5, 1-1 GSC)
    Series: Delta State leads the series 10-2 all-time 
    Location: Winthrop-King Centre | Rome, Ga.
 
How It Happened:

• The Lady Statesmen put themselves in an early hole as the Lady Hawks went on an 13-0 run over the final 5:38 of the first quarter of action to take a 17-7 lead. 
• Shorter outscored the Lady Statesmen 22-4 in the paint and outscored DSU 7-4 in second chance points in the first half of action. 
• Senior Kaelin Kneeland led the way for Delta State at the half, scoring six points and collecting one rebound. Senior Toya Collins tallied five points and three rebounds in the first half. 
• The Lady Statesmen outscored Shorter 31-24 after the halftime buzzer, including out-pacing the Lady Hawks 19-10 in the fourth and final quarter of action. Sophomore Alondrea Rush lead the charge with nine second half points. 
• A pair of Rush three pointers led the Lady Statesmen on a 6-2 run to open the fourth quarter.
• With 4:54 remaining in the game and the Lady Hawks out in front 59- 41, Delta State flipped a switch, going on a 13-2 run to close the game. 
• Four quick points from freshman Tori Mallory with 2:30 to go got the lead down to 12 points, and an Anissa Jackson jumper cut the deficit to 10 points. 
• Jackson scored all five of her points in the second half, including four in the final 3:32 in helping Delta State get back in the game.
• The comeback ended up falling just short, as a Rush 3-pointer pulled the margin to seven points. That would, however, prove to be the closest the DSU would get it with 1:13 to play in the game. 
• Three Lady Statesmen players scored in double figures, led by Rush's 12 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists. Senior Aspriona Gilbert added 10 points and Kneeland added 10 points as well for DSU. 
• DSU finished 20-of-44 (44.4 percent) from the floor, including 6-for-17 (35.3 percent) from the three-point line. The Lady Statesmen shot 13-for-23 from the field (56.6 percent) in the second half in their late rally.. Delta State shot 8-for-14 from the free throw line to finish at 57.1%.
• The Lady Hawks were 25-of-58 (43.1 percent) from the field and went 7-for-7 from the free throw line in shooting an 87.5% clip. 
• Shorter was led by Taylor Adam's double-double. Adams poured in 19 points and added 10 rebounds to mark the fifth time she has tallied double digit points and rebounds this season. 
• Sophomore Kayla Tille was the second leading scorer for Shorter, adding 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field. 

 
Notables:            

• Shorter outscored the Lady Statesmen 40-14 in the paint.
• The Lady Hawks also outscored Delta State 17-8 in points off of turnovers and in bench points 14-9. 

Who's Next:

• Delta State continues their GSC road weekend as they take on Lee University in Cleveland, Tenn. to close out the weekend. The Lady Statesmen tip at 1 pm on Saturday, Dec. 17.